Ostomy Adjustment Inventory-23 (OAI-23): Development and Testing of the Italian Version

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Italian version of the Ostomy Adjustment Inventory-23 (OAI-23).

This is a methodological study evaluated psychometric properties of the OAI-23.

A sample of 230 patients with an ostomy was enrolled in an Italian university hospital from May to September 2017.

This study comprised two phases; during phase 1, the cultural-linguistic translation of the OAI-23 into Italian was completed. In addition, content and face validity were tested. In phase 2, psychometric testing of the OAI-23 was conducted in a cross-section sample of 258 Italian patients with a fecal ostomy.

The Italian version of the OAI-23 presents 23 items giving a 3-dimensional structure: acceptance, negative feelings, and social engagement. Accordingly, this 3-dimensional structure arise from an exploratory factorial analysis with the maximum likelihood robust estimator (RMSEA = 0.089 [95% CI = 0.063-0.113; P = .05], and CFI = 0.901, explaining 44% of the total variance). The internal consistency of the OAI-23 was good (Cronbach α for acceptance = 0.91; for negative feelings = 0.87; for social engagement = 0.93; for overall scale = 0.91).

The OAI-23 provides a valid and reliable assessment of patients' psychosocial adjustment to an ostomy. It provides important resource for clinical decision-making; for example, it may be used to design or tailor educational strategies to enhance psychosocial adjustment following creation of an ostomy.